Strengthening youth resilience through sport in Iqaluit 

For more than a decade, Iglu Frisbee has been renting a turf, buying frisbee disks, coaching people, and setting up recreational ultimate frisbee games as part of their Frisbee for All in Iqaluit, Nunavut.

Everyone is welcome and young people often come over from the youth centre, which is just across the hall from the field.

But there is a cost to play, primarily to help cover the cost of renting the turf. This past year, it was $15 each night. Unfortunately, for many youth in the area, this cost can be a barrier. Looking for ways to be more inclusive, the group decided to apply for Cuso International’s GLINT program.

Cuso’s Indigenous Canada Program provides grants of up to $5,000 to Indigenous Youth Leaders to support projects taking place in Northern Canada.

With the grant, Frisbee for All can offer a pay-what-you-can model so youth (high school age to 30) can play even if they are unable to pay. Grant funds will also help purchase supplies like first aid kits, swag, pinnies, food for special events, and promotional materials for the league and its accessibility.

Aneeka Anderson, who started playing two years ago, hopes this will encourage youth who have dabbled a bit in sport, showing everyone that this is a place for them, which goes a long way to support youth’s mental health and wellbeing.

“There are no barriers other than showing up and giving it a shot. That’s what we want it to be about,” she said.

The initiative goes beyond playing sports for an evening, it is an investment in self-efficacy, problem-solving, and belonging, which is essential for long-term economic and leadership success.

Youth Leaders also receive mentorship, training, and capacity-building to help them plan and deliver and implement their projects.

“I think part of the bigger picture, for me at least, is knowing sports bring people together, they boost confidence, they boost self-esteem, and we live in a place where unfortunately suicide rates are very high,” said Aneeka. “I think this project has the opportunity to support youth resilience, to build confidence, to be a preventative factor in our community if we can reach the youth, get them involved and support them throughout the season and hopefully see them keep coming back.”

Since receiving the grant, the group is looking at what more they can offer, such as skills clinics focused on gameplay, warm-up, and physical literacy. These are skills that are transferable across many sports and activities.

“I’ve seen some of the athletes, they go on to do like Arctic Summer Games and they do wrestling and basketball. So a lot of transferable skills there,” said Sandi Chan, a fellow Iglu Frisbee player and communications lead for the league.

Through this project, youth in Iqaluit are gaining access to inclusive recreation while building confidence, leadership abilities developing the personal and social skills that strengthen both individual and community resilience now and into the future.